hellcatfandomcom-20200214-history
Hellcat Squadran: Move Along
For around 30 years, Holly's been forced to live knowing she'd never see her husband, Sen, alive again. During this time, her depression dragged her down far, to the point where one of her drones, Perceptor, took notice and took measures to keep her from going too far gone. However, in 2303, the chance Holly'd been wishing for would finally come... Chapter 1: Final Reunion Sitting in her lab at Kaven Base, Holly continued work on one of her robotics projects. Ever since Sen died, the only thing she could do is work on her projects, bury herself in work...anything to numb the pain. However, then there's nothing to work on, or the other Hellcat Squadran leaders pull her out of the lab to keep herself from "working to death", all she can think of is Sen...and all that does is make her depressed, knowing she'll never see him again. Finally, she got the project on the table online. Looking at her pending projects, she was frustrated to find out that there was nothing left that needed working on. She packed up her equipment, left the lab, and headed for home. However, on the way there, she was intercepted by an old friend. "Hey, Holly, are you feeling alright?" Serah Farron-Villers asked in a concerned voice. "Fine. I'm just...fine..." Holly responded in a slightly-annoyed tone. "You don't sound alright...ever since Sen died, you've been a little off...just worried about you, that's all..." Holly, blinded by her frustration and restlessness, just huffed and moved towards home. Serah just sighed, shook her head an continued on. ---- Finally, Holly returned to her house. Entering the house, she didn't notice the figure behind the door. A shrieking of Binary sounded, startling Holly. "Perceptor! I TOLD you not to DO THAT!" Perceptor responded in Binary, "I haven't moved from where I've been. You're the one who forgot I was there..." Holly just huffed and shook her head. "What is it that is troubling you?" "It's Serah again. She came up to me and stopped me on the way here...It's getting annoying..." "She is your friend, Holly. She is concerned...and not without reason..." Holly sighed, and sat on the sofa. "You right...and she is...I haven't..." She sighed again. "I'm just still having trouble accepting that he's gone..." At that point, she broke down to tears. "I never even got the chance to say good bye!" Just then, the door knocked. Wiping away her tears, Holly prepared to answer the door, only for Perceptor to signal her to just keep seated, and went to answer the door himself. "If I wanted to kill her, would I have knocked?" asked Dinaya. Perceptor said in Binary, "It's Dinaya." Holly responded, "Let her in..." After Perceptor moved, Dinaya walked in. "Hey," she said to Holly. Holly could only muster a "Hey..." in reply. "Listen, there's someone who wants to talk to you...I don't think he should, but...yeah..." Dinaya said. "Who is it?" Holly asked. Just then, Dinaya cloased her eyes. A moment later, they re-opened, glowing white. Then she spoke again, but the voice wasn't her's...but was a voice Holly heard in her mind every day since the speaker died. "Hey, love." Holly's eyes opened wide, in disbelief. "S-S-Sen? Is that you?" "Yeah...sorry I died...again..." 'Sen" replied. Holly was just overwhelmed with emotion, overwhelmed by emotion. Just then, Perceptor said something in binary. "I don't speak binary, Holly," Sen replied. That snapped Holly back. "Oh...right...he was wondering if you wanted to use a mobile holo-emitter to...look more like yourself, to make this less...awkward..." "Ok," Sen replied. Perceptor went and picked up a triangular piece of plastic, and handed it to Sen/Dinaya. Once it was hooked to his/her belt, Perceptor pressed a button on it. A moment later, a holographic projection of Sen was projected over Dinaya's body. "I guess this is easier," Sen replied. "And he was right...feeling less awkward now," Holly replied, able to muster up a small bit of humor."And he was right...feeling less awkward now," Holly replied, able to muster up a small bit of humor. "How you doing?" Sen asked. Holly tried to find some means to lighten it up a little, but ultimately couldn't. "Terribly..." "Which is why I'm here. Hon' you need to get out there. You have family here you've ignored for the past 30 years," Sen said, worriedly. Holly began to tear up again. "It's just...the first 2 times...I was able to handle it...if only barely, but this third time...I..." Holly took a moment to regain composure, before continuing. "Everytime I am not occupied, I...I can't remember anything but you...and...there just comes times where I'm...I'm not sure what I'll do anymore..." Then, she realized how she must be sounding, before saying, "I'm sorry...just been a little...difficult for me..." Just then, Perceptor spoke. In his deep, reverberating, robotic voice, he said, "She has been having issues...moving on..." Holly made no attempt to disclaim this, forced to admit it was true. "Did you know Sasha died?" Sen asked. Holly just nodded. "How long were you with Elle after that?" Sen asked. Holly just remained silent. Perceptor answered in her stead. "She managed to be there for her until Elle became able to cope...Holly, however, became more withdrawn at that point." "Ok, good," Sen replied, at least glad she wasn't neglecting her family. "The others are about the only thing I have left now...and my research, the only thing I can do to force down the depression..." Holly finally said, "But...when nothing's left to do...and the others are out doing their thing...when I'm all alone..." She couldn't continue further. "Holly, if you remarried, I wouldn't exactly be offended," Sen replied. Holly, however, looked depressed more. It was Perceptor that responded. "I do not profess to know human emotion. But I know AI, and considering Holly entered creation as such, I believe I could still predict her: you were her first love, Sen. Therefore, my calculations determine there's a 99.657% chance that her feelings for you are still as strong as ever...Also equate in the factor of her inability to be there when you died, preventing her from being able to say her final good bye to you, that would likely factor into her depression." Perceptor approached, as if to keep Holly from hearing, while Sen could hear clearly. "But most of all, my calculations predict that what she needs most is closure." Then, Sen used the Force through Dinaya to freeze Perceptor in place. "Holly, I just need you to stop locking yourself in here." Holly sighed. "Sen, it's just...you've always been the best thing that's happened to me. Not the friends I made. Not turning human. You've always been the best thing that's ever happened to me...And, I just never want to let go of that...But when I'm all alone, the pain of you being gone...it gets almost unbearable...Especially since..." Holly couldn't continue further without breaking down... "Closure won't come with me, Holly. Closure is learning to let go," Sen explained. "I hate feeling the way I do all the time...but...I just don't want to let go of all the good times we had in the past..." "Don't let go of those...you need to learn that the past is in the past...and you can cherish it, but you can't let it consume you." Sen paused for a moment, before continuing, "...You know what happened when Elle did that..." Holly did remember: she turned into almost just a shadow of her former self...even ended up turning insane, due to her unprotected mind, during the Mirror War. It was only through shear luck that she came back. "Of course I do..." she said, sadly. Sen then replied, "Then you know that you can't be like this, or it will blow up in your face." At that point, Holly just stood up, but kept her head down, as if thinking. Sen didn't know what to say or think at that point. Finally, Holly managed to say, "I guess the biggest thing...was I never got to truly say good bye...been one of the things that've been eating me up all this time..." Sen then came up and took Holly's hands in his. "I'm here now," he said, smiling. Holly, after a couple moments, finally realized that the moment she thought would never happen had finally come. "I'm sorry, sorry I couldn't have been there to help...sorry this had happened...I guess...after all of this, I have a lot more to be sorry about..." "Would it be weird if I kissed you?" Sen asked. Holly responded, "As long as the hologram remains up...and Dinaya isn't aware of what's going on right now...Her commenting on it later would probably be awkward..." "Don't worry, she isn't," Sen replied. "Alright...good to know..." Holly said. Then, Perceptor, who was still held in place, but still operation, turned off his optical sensors, as if to give them better privacy. Sen then said, semi-jokingly, "By the way, not the biggest fan of the robot." "Well...to be honest, he has been one of the ones trying to help me 'keep my head'...well, ever since I created him..." Then, 'Sen' approached, and him and Holly shared one final kiss together. Holly felt as if all her sorrows began to melt, because while she knows Sen was kissing through a proxy (and a female one at that), she could still sense his presense...so it felt no different than kissing him while he was in his own body. "I've gotta go now, hon," Sen said. However, he did keep hugging her, so that she could respond. Holly sniffed, and, hugging back, replied, "Good bye, Sen...and thank you..." "For what, love?" Sen asked. Holly answered, tearfully, "For everything..." "Thank you, beautiful...Goodbye." Then, before Holly knew what would happen next, Dinaya then came back. "Holly. Why are you clutching my head to your...ah...you know..." "Oh, sorry...just...finally saying good bye to Sen..." Holly then cleared her through and backed off, while Perceptor stood there, silently, but his head bobbing up and down as if snickering. Apparently, he'd not deactivated his audio receptors. "Laugh it up, bolt-ball," Holly said jokingly. One thing that was noticeable was that, while not vastly so, Holly was mildly more pleasant than when Dinaya first arrived. "Uhhh...why does my tongue taste like the really crappy food rations they tell you to store in the closet...?" Perceptor just released a massive string of binary into the air. "Sen did tell me how to reprogram you things to turn you into vacuum cleaners..." Perceptor made no response...other than a subtle clicking from the Resonance Blaster on his arm. However, Holly just broke it up. "Come on, let's all just settle down here..." Holly then sighed, and thought for a bit...before saying, "I think I might need some time off...going to go talk to Leinad about it...Perceptor?" The drone nodded, and readied to follow her. Before leaving, Holly said, "Dinaya...thank you for helping me be able to talk to him...one last time..." "No problem. Thanks for the...whatever..." Dinaya responded, as Holly left the house. Chapter 2: Departure IceBite was sorting through paper work on his desk. Even after the decentralization of Hellcat Squadran leadership over 20 years ago, he still had much paper work to do. Just then, however, he received a knock on his door. "Come in," he replied. Into the room came Holly, escorted by her drone Perceptor. "Oh, Holly, is there something you needed?" "Yes...I just...I need some time off, if that's not too much to ask..." IceBite seemed mildly confused. "Why is that? From what I recall, you've been working non-stop to distract from Sen's death...has something changed?" "You could say that," Holly replied, "Just need some time to think, maybe go on another adventure, you know?" IceBite responded, "Indeed I do..." IceBite thought for a moment, before deciding, "It's likely you won't be needed for some time...just try and not get yourself killed, we still need you here." Holly nodded, "Alright...I'll see you some time in the future...if my family asks, just tell them that I'm taking some time to myself..." "Will do..." IceBite said, nodding, "See you around...and be safe..." ---- Holly was preparing final checks on the HCS Stormblade, while Perceptor took his place at communications and Dirge was at tactical. She looked over the bridge, and then re-entered thought. Again, her thoughts went to Sen. While she became depressed for a moment, she remembered a couple hours ago, and was comforted by the fact she was able to say good bye to him. "Stardock reporting the all clear, we can leave anytime," Perceptor spoke in Binary. Holly nodded. "Launch." Then, the ship began to rise off the ground, although those inside couldn't tell, due to how smoothly it did so. As the ship ascended through the atmosphere, Holly continued thinking. Once the ship was in orbit, the helmsdrone asked, "What course should we set?" Holly thought for a moment, before responding, "Take us to the border of Coalition space...less chance of being bothered by things here there..." "Right away," the drone replied. Soon, the ship opened a hyperspace jump point, which the Stormblade flew into. Chapter 3: Into the Abyss In Hyperspace near the Ahemait System, 1 week later The Nod Dreadnought Enlightened drifted in space, with its destroyer escorts the Cairo and Sarajevo at its side. The commander of the Nod vessel observed his most recent prize: a techno-organic girl he recovered from stasis on an unknown ship. He had scientists scanning the girl over, trying to discover what potential she could have in helping or enhancing Nod. As of yet, the girl remained silent, scanning them with large, emotionless, orange eyes. Her face betrayed no emotion, but it was clear she did not appreciate the situation she was in. However, the Nod Commander did not care about the comfort of the organism: its survival, maybe, but not its comfort. What he cared about was making sure he got the organism back to a lab for study. Maybe, the commander thought, if he could get the organism back to base, he could probably get a promotion to a higher rank, or, Kane willing, probably a place in Kane's inner circle. As these thoughts swam through the commander's head, one of his subordinates suddenly warned, "Sir, hyperspace storm ahead!" Before the commander could give the order to drop out of Hyperspace, the storm hit, throwing the ship out of hyperspace and damaging it. Once the ship was out, the commander ordered the fleet to report in. Fortunately, both the Cairo and Sarajevo were intact. However, the Enlightened was damaged, which means it'd take several hours to repair the FTL drive. The commander gave the order to expedite repairs. He was gonna get this girl to Nod...by any means necessary... ---- Sulimat System It's been one week since Holly left Earth for her time on her own. To get away from all the troubles of being in guarded Coalition space, Holly took the Stormblade to the edge of Coalition Space. Throughout the week, she'd taken her ship and did various things, from raiding small AoUD infiltrator posts to protecting Coalition border convoys, and such. Chapter 4: The Prize Chapter 5: Secrets of the Ancients